Water Leak(s) 2013 SSV

[MD Tahoe 13]

I may have some water leaks in my Tahoe. This is my first post here. We had a very, very heavy rain last night on the east coast and I could hear water shaking around somewhere in my 2013 Tahoe SSV on my drive to work in the morning. I pulled the weather strip slightly back on the right rear passenger door, and water starting leaking out everywhere. Where could this water have come from? The seams of the right rear window?





The day I picked up this Tahoe from IL, I drove it back to MD through some snow up in PA. The roads were heavily salted. The next day, I noticed salt build up around the driver door weather strip. Later that week I removed and plugged the police spotlight. There is still a notch cut out in the door. The weather strip appears to be cut and worn down with a little rust by the feet. Since removing the spotlight, I haven't noticed any more leaks, but my guess is that the whole weather strip needs to be replaced. Anyone have experience with this problem?

 

[2011SSVHOE]

My weather strip looks like yours, they are like 90bucks on EBay.

The water draining from the door is normal, However if you hear schloshing around that means that the door drains are clogged.

Also make sure your roof holes are properly plugged.


Thirdly, Welcome to TYF from NC

 

[Doubeleive]

I may have some water leaks in my Tahoe. This is my first post here. We had a very, very heavy rain last night on the east coast and I could hear water shaking around somewhere in my 2013 Tahoe SSV on my drive to work in the morning. I pulled the weather strip slightly back on the right rear passenger door, and water starting leaking out everywhere. Where could this water have come from? The seams of the right rear window?


View attachment 199448 View attachment 199449 View attachment 199450


The day I picked up this Tahoe from IL, I drove it back to MD through some snow up in PA. The roads were heavily salted. The next day, I noticed salt build up around the driver door weather strip. Later that week I removed and plugged the police spotlight. There is still a notch cut out in the door. The weather strip appears to be cut and worn down with a little rust by the feet. Since removing the spotlight, I haven't noticed any more leaks, but my guess is that the whole weather strip needs to be replaced. Anyone have experience with this problem?


View attachment 199451

that bottom door seal condition is normal I haven't seen one that wasn't exactly like that, just poor design

 

[XEALOT]

My weather strip looks like yours, they are like 90bucks on EBay.

The water draining from the door is normal, However if you hear schloshing around that means that the door drains are clogged.

Also make sure your roof holes are properly plugged.


Thirdly, Welcome to TYF from NC

X2 what he said

I had water sloshing when I first bought my PPV. I cleaned the door drains with pipe cleaners, and I haven't had a problem since.

 

[spectralen]

I also had water coming out of the bottom of the door when I picked it up in Wisconsin. Cleared drain holes is the fix.

 

[CobraKing]

@MD Tahoe 13 Just curious but how did you plug up the spot light notch? I used Gorilla Tape under the weatherstrip and cut out a half circle for the actual notch in the driver door frame. Just wondering if there was an OEM or aftermarket solution that's somewhat cleaner.

@spectralen @XEALOT Could I trouble either of you to take a picture of the actual door drains on the passenger doors? My rear passenger is holding a ton of water and I have to pull the weatherstrip at the bottom to get it out. Not sure if that's the area that I should take a look at or somewhere else.

 

[PG01]

@MD Tahoe 13 Just curious but how did you plug up the spot light notch? I used Gorilla Tape under the weatherstrip and cut out a half circle for the actual notch in the driver door frame. Just wondering if there was an OEM or aftermarket solution that's somewhat cleaner.

@spectralen @XEALOT Could I trouble either of you to take a picture of the actual door drains on the passenger doors? My rear passenger is holding a ton of water and I have to pull the weatherstrip at the bottom to get it out. Not sure if that's the area that I should take a look at or somewhere else.

The plastic rivets are the drains and a few more oval holes under the weatherstrip

 

[MD Tahoe 13]

@MD Tahoe 13 Just curious but how did you plug up the spot light notch? I used Gorilla Tape under the weatherstrip and cut out a half circle for the actual notch in the driver door frame. Just wondering if there was an OEM or aftermarket solution that's somewhat cleaner.

@spectralen @XEALOT Could I trouble either of you to take a picture of the actual door drains on the passenger doors? My rear passenger is holding a ton of water and I have to pull the weatherstrip at the bottom to get it out. Not sure if that's the area that I should take a look at or somewhere else.

Thanks everyone for the input. Really helpful.

CobraKing: I have not yet fixed the notch. The body shop recommendation was to replace the whole door rather than have a new piece of metal welded into the notch. I doubt I will do that. Another inexpensive suggestion was to cut a piece of hard plastic to match the notch, use an epoxy glue to attach it, and then sand and paint over w/ clear coat. Not perfect, but you probably wouldn't notice it. If my SSV wasn't white, I probably wouldn't fix it. It's just more noticeable with a white body.

And thanks for the weather strip recommendation, 2011SSVHOE. That should help prevent any other moisture from seeping in.

 

[CobraKing]

@MD Tahoe 13 Thanks for the reply. The other option you have is finding a white door from a Tahoe/Yukon. The Gorilla Tape blended in quite well on my black PPV.

@Galante Thanks for the reply. I'll remove the entire weather strip and see what's blocking those holes.